Men's Soccer | December 07, 2017

KALAMAZOO, Mich.- History continues to be made for the Western Michigan men's soccer program. Thursday evening the United Soccer Coaches released the association's 2017 NCAA Division I Men's All-America Teams and for the first time ever WMU had not one, but two players recognized as All-Americans.

Senior midfielder Brandon Bye became the school's first ever First Team All-American and senior goalkeeper Drew Shepherd is WMU's first ever Second Team All-American. it was also announced on Thursday that Bye was named one of two of WMU's first Academic All-Americans, joining fellow senior Zach Bock.

"Brandon and Drew are our first All-Americans and I am very happy and proud of this unbelievable achievement," said WMU head coach Chad Wiseman. "They have been incredible leaders and I know they would be the first people to want to share this honor with their teammates. Both have accomplished so much in a Bronco uniform and that is a credit to their hard work and dedication to the program over the past four years."

Team captains Bye and Shepherd led Western Michigan to unprecedented success in 2017. The Broncos won their first ever Mid-American Conference regular season championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, where the team was given a first round bye. WMU went on to defeat UAlbany in the second round for the school's first ever NCAA Tournament win and advanced to the Sweet 16 before eventually falling to Michigan State.

The Broncos finished the season with a 17-4-1 overall record and went undefeated during the MAC season with a perfect 5-0-0 record. WMU was ranked in the United Soccer Coaches top 25 poll for 10 consecutive weeks, reaching as high as No. 4, and spent six weeks ranked inside the top 10. WMU set program records for most wins and shutouts in a season.

A Hermann Trophy semifinalist, Bye became the first Bronco ever to earn MAC Player of the Year honors after leading the conference with 12 goals and seven assists for 31 points. He scored five game-winning goals which ranks sixth most in the nation. He set a new WMU record for shots in a season with 91 and ranked fifth in the nation for shots per game and shots on goal per game.

Shepherd had a 16-3-1 record in goal for the Broncos and was responsible for 13 of the 14 shutouts. The 13 shutouts ranks third most in Division I this season. He set a new WMU record for goalkeeper wins, single-season shutouts and career shutouts. His career 0.75 goals-against average will also go down as best in school history.